Burris does not shoot himself in the foot at City Club speech.

WASHINGTON--Quick analysis of Sen. Roland Burris before the City Club of Chicago. I watched it on TV, so my impressions may be different from someone in the room. But it is the video that most people will be seeing.

*Burris got a gracious reception. He showed that he is not a pariah despite calls for him to step down, and establishment Chicago at the lunch speech was willing to listen to him. Don't mistake that, however, for the political support he needs to remain politically viable.

*Unlike his most recent appearances on TV, he did no damage to himself.

*However, he gave no explanation about all the conflicting explanations of who he talked to in the Blagojevich orbit in his quest for the senate seat vacated by President Obama.

*Clean sound bite: "I've done nothing wrong. I've nothing to hide."

*Minus: Offered no vision of what he wanted to do as a senator. No rationale of why he should be in office at this point in time. No suggestions at all about his senatorial agenda.

Why? Because I don't think he has one.

*His pronouncement that he will not engage the media: Shows he does not have the self confidence to deal with local and national press. But since he does such a poor job of explaining himself, I can see why Burris and his handlers took this tactic.

Not sure if that "won't engage the media" means Burris will not pro-actively seek any interviews.

Lynn, I enjoy your work everyday both in print and on tv from my new residence in NorthCarolina.Chicago was home for 30 years.My reading on the Roland Burris situation is let it rest,enough already............personally I feel the same about the ex.gov. The best use of tax payermoney would be for the US attorney whomI think is to notch to call a news conference and close the matter out.............Further with all the pressing business you in the media need to report leave the circus that this has become to the comic book writers........Thanks

Since I moved out of Chicago some years ago, I really miss it and all the drama. The only thing I can say about Roland Burris is that I met him once when he was given an award by the university I was with. He was a lovely gentleman and couldn't have been nicer.

ROLAND BURRIS DOESN'T REALIZE OR MAYBE HE DOES,
THAT AT THE PRESENT TIME THE GOP WANTS HIS SEAT,
AND THEY WILL TRY TO GET IT, BY ANY MEANS
NECESSARY!
HE IS FROM CENTRALIA, ILLINOIS AND THERE ARE NO
BARRACUDAS THERE, BUT IN D.C. WATCH YOUR BLANK,
BECAUSE THE SHARKS ARE IN THE WATER!
GOP SHARKS, THESE GUYS ARE TALKING ABOUT NOT
TAKING THE RECOVERY MONEY, THEY ARE FULL OF THEM-
SELVES AND THEIR CONSTITUENTS SHOULD VOTE THEM
OUT OF OFFICE!
CALIFORNIA IS IN DEEP TROUBLE!
ARIZONA AND FLORIDA NEED HELP BIGTIME!
PRESIDENT OBAMA TO THE RESCUE!
THE NEW YORK TIMES IS LITTLE FOX NEWS, STUCK ON
STUPID NEWSPAPER AND TELEVISION!